We may feel that a sin we committed in the past keeps God from loving us but that's just not the case. God loves and forgives anyone who asks regardless of what they did. If that were not the case then a certain man who violently persecuted Christians before he himself finally turned to God would have been rejected by the Lord. But he was not only accepted and loved by God, he became one of the most powerful Bible writers in history: Paul. God used him in mighty ways.
But let's back up here a minute. Maybe we're somebody who wonders how a God of love could allow us to be hurt or abused. But if a man who had endured beatings and imprisonment for preaching the Gospel tells us that God loves us, will we believe him? It's what Paul tells us in all his writings. That God loves us amidst the anguish.
Perhaps we feel alone and unloved ... absolutely unlovable. But if a man who had suffered much and had been repeatedly abandoned by friends ... and even shipwrecked ... tells us that God loves us, will we believe him? It's what he tells us in every letter he wrote.
Whatever our experiences, the apostle Paul probably encountered something that we can relate to. Yet, he kept spreading his message of hope: God loves us and sent His Son to die for our sins. The situation we find ourselves in may be unfair, painful, or humiliating, but the fact that it happened doesn't mean God has quit loving us. Sometimes we face difficulty because He is polishing our rough edges and molding us into the image of Christ. Other trials are instigated by Satan and are allowed by God's permissive will. Either way, God is working everything out to our good, according to His purpose for our lives (Ro 8:28).
The key to accepting God's unconditional love is to focus our attention on Him rather than on ourselves and our circumstances. When we are learning of Him, talking with Him, and sharing our lives with Him, trust and faith naturally and easily replace doubt and fear.
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Another morning wasted. I forgot to set my alarm and slept until after 9:00. Then I sat on the couch and caught up with the daily news ... the fires down south are just terrible!!! Then I sat there and vegged for another hour. Where has all my energy gone? Last week was just hopping with activity and now I guess I'm just catching my breath. But I don't like to waste away my time. Yet I do. I veg. I may have a meeting this afternoon at 2:00. I'm trying to reach Rita to find out. I sent her an email but she hasn't answered yet. I will give her time and then if she doesn't answer I'll give in and call her. I hate phones!!! I'll wait until the last minute. (I've gotten good at that.)
The weather has been typically fall-like. Cold at night and hot in the afternoons and I love it!
My house is a mess and I can't seem to find the energy and ambition to clean it up. It needs to be vacuumed and the baths need to be scoured again. The floor could stand mopping and the clutter needs to be put away. If I don't have the meeting this afternoon I will use that free time to do some cleaning. That is part of my responsibilities as a wife and a woman. I can kick against the goads all I want but I will only end up hurting my foot. Do you have goads of your own? Are there things in your life that you simply rebel against? I sure hope so, 'cause I don't want to be the only one. No, truthfully, I hope you don't have goads. They're miserable little creatures set about to complicate things in our lives. Like little mirrors they reflect our image back toward us and we have to face who and what we really are. Funny, we can kick against the goads all day but we won't accomplish a thing! It's better to resolve ourselves, to set the goads out of our way and get on to our chores and just get them done. If we do that the goads will disappear on their own. I'm convinced that Satan is the keeper of the goads. They belong to him and as far as I'm concerned, he can have them!
Well, I better stop and get a few things done before I call Rita. I just finished off a bag of popcorn for my lunch, well, brunch really. I eat a lot of popcorn and I'll probably end up with popcorn lung what with all the fumes I breathe. And Mario's wanting my chair. So this will be it for today.
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